7 Ways To Level Up Your Cooking Skills
Cooking may be a talent for some people. But others like to think of this kitchen skill as something they can learn and improve over time. If you’re into cooking, and you’ve been practicing your craft to level up, good for you! It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting to gain confidence in the kitchen. What’s important is you’re now doing your best to master the culinary arts in your own way.
If you’re here to find out more cooking tips and tricks, you’ve come to the right place. Without further ado, here are seven ways that can come in handy as you work on leveling up your cooking skills:
- Keep On Experimenting
The good thing about cooking is even if you fail on the first try, there’s no limit to how many attempts you can make. The important thing is you’re taking note of your mistakes and trying your best not to do it again. So, there’s nothing wrong with experimenting with different recipes and techniques that you think can help you improve your cooking mastery.
There are different online resources you can check out for recipes to practice on. Cook Gem, for example, offers a variety of recipes and cooking tips you can follow to make your kitchen endeavor a success. Gone are those days when homemakers would have to go to the bookstore to buy a recipe book. Now, you can simply go online and search for any recipe you want to try.
- Take Time To Master Different Cooking Techniques
It’s a given that learning the basic techniques in cooking is the first step. But once you think you’ve already gained a working knowledge of it, you can move on to the next level by mastering cooking methods that aren’t for beginners.
Suppose you’ve already mastered frying, sautéing, and boiling. Then maybe you’re ready to dip your toes into more advanced techniques such as dredging, brining, flambéing, and coddling. Skilled chefs usually use these, and if you’re interested to learn about them, you can watch online tutorials.
- Get The Freshest Ingredients
Recipes are just as unique as the ingredients used in them. That being said, you should make it a point always to pick the freshest ingredients when cooking your recipes. Try to keep in mind that no matter how good you are at cooking, there’ll be no use for that if your ingredients aren’t fresh. You may have the best spices or the highest quality pans and pots, but you can’t expect a good-tasting fish dish if they aren’t freshly caught.
- Prepare The Right Tools And Utensils
Once you already have the right and freshest ingredients, you’re ready to start experimenting on your new recipe. But you need to make sure you’re using the right tools and cooking utensils for your new creation. One can’t expect a frying pan to work like a pot and vice versa. It’s worth investing in excellent quality kitchen accessories you can use for all your recipes in the future.
Kitchen knives, for example, come in different types, sizes, and tips or edges. Most chefs like to purchase knives in sets because, at some point, they’ll need to use the different types depending on what recipe they’re preparing.
Investing in the right equipment will make cooking easier and more professional for you. The quality would also decide how long you can enjoy using the tools. So, it might be better to go for items that may cost a little expensive but can last for a long time.
- Don’t Overdo The Seasoning
Remember that you can always add seasoning in cooking. But once you’ve done so, you can’t take it back anymore. So, be extra careful when adding salt, pepper, and other condiments because you’ll never know what could happen.
What you can do instead is to season early and then add as you go. Taste your creation from time to time, so you’ll know what to adjust, if ever.
- Master Your Knife Skills
It may be impressive to see those budding chefs on TV dice their ingredients in just a matter of seconds. But hey, you’re in no cooking show. It would be best if you focus on mastering your knife skills, not in a way that’ll make you the fastest chopper or slicer. Instead, it would be best if you learned to cut and slice ingredients into the same shapes, cuts, and sizes as needed in the recipe.
Cutting or dicing the food uniformly will make it cook evenly and better. Not to mention, of course, how more impressive it will look, and how pleasant it will be to eat a dish with evenly-sliced vegetables and meat. It presents you as someone who’s improving in your craft. Your friends and family will surely be amazed at how far you’ve come since you first set your foot in the kitchen.
- Keep Practicing
It may be a cliché already in so many ways, but practice makes perfect. And it couldn’t be truer in cooking. Ask any seasoned chef, and they’ll most likely give this tip as well. Cook when you have the chance. Go to the kitchen when you don’t have anything else to do. Practice your knife skills when you’re bored.
Practicing will make you master the skills you need to level up your cooking game. If you want, you can also join short online classes on culinary arts to help you jumpstart your kitchen journey. Don’t get tired of practicing. And each time you think you failed, take note of what has gone wrong, and be sure not to do it again the next time.
Master Chef In The Making
Cooking is an enjoyable and rewarding hobby. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll surely be getting praises and recipe requests from friends and family. For now, keep on mastering your craft. Practice and keep on experimenting with new recipes and techniques you’re interested to learn. Soon you’ll be a master chef everyone will always love to have in events and gatherings.